The Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), an international financial center that houses Abu Dhabi`s financial regulator, has reportedly joined the R3 blockchain consortium.

ADGM is the first regulatory body in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to participate in the R3 consortium that consists of 80 members from regulators and financial institutions around the world, as ADGM explained in their press release (available here).

It has been added that R3 is a leading financial innovation and technology company that is headquartered in New York. Their main goal is to focus on designing and applying distributed ledger technology solutions to the global services industry.

“We are pleased to be invited by R3 to join its consortium. This membership reinforces ADGM’s commitment and responsibility as an IFC and regulator that provides an efficient, competitive and transparent marketplace.”, said Richard Teng, Chief Executive Officer, Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of ADGM.

“We will be able to closely monitor blockchain developments and better assess the impact to financial market and the economy, as well as to develop effective RegTech solutions that benefit the financial industry. We strive to continuously enhance market efficiency, as well as, boost investor access to emerging and frontier markets while upholding high regulatory practice.”, as he elaborated in the press release.

“The addition of Abu Dhabi Global Market to our ever-growing network takes our global engagement with the financial industry to the next level.”, according to David E. Rutter, CEO of R3.

“MENA is an important region for us as we continue to develop distributed ledger technology solutions for financial services, and banks operating in the Gulf will be key strategic partners in our collaborative efforts.”, as he highlighted.

Another similar move was made by the National Bank of Abu Dhabi. It has been said to introduce real-time cross-border payments on a blockchain by using technology provided by Ripple. This service will be intended for users in the Asia-Middle East region, as cryptocoinnews.com reported earlier this year.